Secrets
by erika95
Summary: secrets of the various characters
1. Coco

July 13,1936

It was a beautiful sunny day in Santa Cecilia and the Rivera zapateria breathed a festive air; the recently nineteen-year-old Coco Rivera would have crowned his dream the next day marrying the love of her life Julio and she could not be happier. But there was one thing that worried her: she could not marry him without first telling him her secret; if she had to spend the rest of her life with him, it was better to be honest. So she decided to talk to him:

"Julio, mi amor, I have to talk to you. It's important!"  
"Tell me honey!"  
"Then it's not easy and please promise me you won't tell my mother."  
"But of course love. You can trust me !" Coco smiled at these words;  
"It's about my father. " And began to tell.

FLASHBACK 1922

More than six months had passed by now and Coco had understood that her father would never return; she had seen her mother read a letter and that she had been crying for 2 minutes before and then she got angry throwing away all the tools and forbidding music forever. That day she had the idea of throwing away all his memories: she had ripped his picture and was preparing to throw it in the trash along with his letters, the photo of his adoptive father and his wedding dress; this Coco could not allow it and therefore, taking advantage of a moment of distraction from her mother, she went to get his hands in the sack.  
"Coco what are you doing?" uncles Oscar and Felipe shouted in unison.  
"Please don't tell my mother. I don't want to forget Dad!" said Coco in tears  
"Don't worry mija, we also don't believe in his voluntary disappearance. Come on we help you."  
So Coco took the torn photo and the letters and hid them in the drawer in her room where the mother wouldn't look, the photo of his abuelito Emilio would have taken him to the cemetery when he could and the uncles put the dress in a package they would send to Mexico City to Claudia Lopez Garcia, the adoptive aunt.

THE END OF FLASHBACK

"I'm sorry my love. . I should have told you right away. But I don't think Dad abandoned us. Something must have happened."  
"Then I'm on your side too. I thank you for confiding in me. I love you. I look forward to becoming your husband. See you tomorrow mi sol." and left her with a kiss  
"I love you too."  
Now Coco felt lighter and couldn't wait to start her new life with the man she loved.


	2. Paloma

November 1, 1980 Mexico City

It was the dia de Muertos and the Lopez Garcia foundation was setting up a party they would give in the evening. The tradition, inaugurated by the matriarch of the family Mamà Claudia in 1922, wanted not only to commemorate their family but also to offer food, gifts and more to the poorest and those who did not even have a family; while the adults were busy, the last born of Lopez Garcia were playing in what was once the old office of their great-great-grandmother Claudia

"Aurora, Emiliano, come! I found something interesting in the closet. " said Tristan, the older brother.  
"Ah and what you want there to be. It's just an old dirty and dusty box. " said little Aurora, grimacing.  
"But obviously something precious must be there otherwise mama' Claudia would not have kept it. Let's open it!"  
"I help you?"  
"No Emiliano, you are too little! "  
"Ugh!"  
So the 2 older children opened it: inside they found what looked like a groom's suit a little dated but still in good condition. Once the great-grandmother Paloma had told them that in life mamà Claudia had been a seamstress and therefore this dress had to be her work.  
"Maybe it belonged to papà Jorge?" Tristan asked knowing that mamà Claudia had sewed the dress of her son-in-law  
"I do not believe. Papà Jorge was not so tall. "  
"Children what are you doing here? " suddenly appeared the great-grandmother Paloma  
"Excuse us mamà Paloma, we didn't have to look around without your permission." Tristan said doing the puppy face  
"Don't worry mijo. If you want to sit next to me I'll tell you a secret. This dress has been kept here for 58 years."  
"Really and to whom did it belong?" Asked Aurora  
"To my cousin Hector."  
"But tio Emilio didn't have any children. "  
"He had none. But he loved this child like he was. He was about to adopt him when he suddenly disappeared. "  
"And what happened to Hector? "  
"One day he left with a friend of his to become a musician and he never came back." Paloma remembered sadly  
"And why didn't he come back?"  
"In Santa Cecilia it was said that he had abandoned the family. His wife believed it too. But not his daughter and neither me and my mother. He wore this dress on his wedding day, his daughter and his brothers-in-law saved it from the garbage and they sent it to mamà Claudia. It was important to her, it was the only memory left of her nephew, the photos have been lost."  
"I promise we will keep it with care." Emiliano said going back to playing with the brothers, not without having first said good-bye with a little kiss mamà Paloma.  
Left alone, Paloma sighed wearily and remembered the day she was sent that dress.

FLASHBACK 1922  
DLIN DLIN  
"Paloma, they rang at the door, are you going to open ? " Claudia asked, sewing "Yes mom!" she left little Ana to draw and went to open .  
It was the postman who gave her a package saying that it came from Santa Cecilia, the city they had left only 3 months earlier. She went back into the house, opened it and found what she remembered being his cousin Hector's groom's suit; next to it was a letter

Dear Mrs. Lopez Garcia,  
we couldn't let our sister destroy the memory of your only nephew. We know that you will keep it with care and maybe one day it will return to our family. Coco sends a kiss to all of you.  
Best regards  
Oscar and Felipe Mondego  
After reading it, Paloma handed the dress to the mother who put it in a box and locked it in a closet where she would keep it as a relic until her death.

Notes:

1\. In 1980, Tristan is 8, Aurora 5 and Emiliano 2  
2\. Mondego is the maiden name of Imelda


	3. Miguel

December 6 ,2017

A month had passed since his adventure in the Land of the Dead and Miguel seemed to have recovered well. Almost; in reality the night still had nightmares about De la Cruz and what could have happened if Pepita had not saved him in time. Also this night he woke up with a start: this time it was even more terrible;he was on the stage where they had unmasked De la Cruz on one side and on the other Ernesto who was holding Hector and he could not stop him because he was blocked by a rope. The last words of his former idol had been "Long live the best musician!" and he had knocked out Papà Hector without any remorse and then he woke up all sweaty but careful not to scream not to wake his family. He tried to play the guitar to calm himself, but even this didn't work; so he decided to enter Mamà Coco's room to talk to her  
"Mama' Coco are you awake? "  
"Mijo, what's wrong? " she asked, startled by the red eyes of her favorite great-grandson  
"I had a nightmare. It was terrible." and burst into tears again  
"¡Cálmate, cariño! ¡Está todo bien ahora!" she stroked his cheeks and cradled him a little like when he was little before she got sick  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
"Don't tell the others Mamà Coco. I don't want to frighten them more than I should."  
"I promise you mijito!"  
"Ok!" and began to tell everything in detail even when De la Cruz had thrown Papà Hector down. At the end of the story Mamà Coco was also upset  
"If I had known that Tio Nesto was bad,I would have kept my dad at home!"  
"You couldn't have known . You were just a child. "  
"Gracias mijo!"  
"For what ? "  
"For confiding in me and helping me remember my father. Remember, I will always be there for you. Te quiero mucho Miguelito!"  
"Yo también te amo, Mamà Coco!" now that he had talked to her he felt much better and in fact fell asleep next to her.  
The next day Elena went to her mother's room and was surprised to see Miguel lying in the bed next to her but his beloved grandson slept so well and his mother seemed so relaxed as never before that it didn't seem nice to wake them up right away and so he decided to come back later so Miguel didn't have school that day.

**Notes:**

For the dream, I was inspired by the scene of the Lion King where Scar kills Mufasa.


	4. Imelda

November 30, 2017 Land of the Dead

Almost a month had passed since the Dia de muertos and Imelda still had to come to terms with the new reality: the return of her husband home. The first 4 days had been the most difficult: Hector was in a coma after defeating the Final Death and she had spent day and night watching over him; she had left him alone for too long. Then when he woke up, she discovered that he still couldn't move his legs and immediately called the doctor who had advised him to stay in bed for a month and then start physiotherapy; his bones were too fragile and it took time. From that day on she had distanced herself because the remorse hurt her more than she admitted and the only thing that relieved her pain was to see Hector make acquaintance with their family who, having learned the truth about his death, had immediately accepted him with open arms. But today was his birthday and she wanted to visit him in his bedroom so as not to let him spend it alone; she found him asleep and then sat down to observe him a little: she saw his yellowed bones and his fractures many of which surely caused by her. But it wasn't as much to disturb her as a detail: Hector had kept the wedding ring inside his trouser pocket holding it tight to his heart as she threw it away a long time ago; a painful memory came to mind

FLASHBACK 1922  
"Bastardo de músico. No te necesito. Espero que tu puta te de la felicidad que tanto deseas. ¡Vete al infierno, Héctor!"  
Imelda took her wedding ring off her finger, threw it out of the window, and gave a satisfied smile when a car stepped on it.  
"Are you okay mommy?" Coco asked having heard her scream  
"Yes mija. Never been better."

THE END OF FLASHBACK  
Looking back now she had been jealous of a woman who had never existed as a result of Ernesto's lie, she had built the image of a Hector who had never existed and above all she had hurt the person she had sworn to love and protect. She didn't deserve the love of that creature! Not feeling ready yet to face a conversation with him, she left his room giving him a kiss on the cheek and wishing him a happy birthday. 3 months later, when Hector started walking again, she faced the conversation and he forgave her without even thinking.


	5. Hector

February 15, 2018 Land of the Dead

It was a rainy day and it was just 6 am when Imelda woke up surprised to find the other side of the bed empty; even more surprised she was when she saw Hector on the kitchen table who, while waiting for the coffee to be ready, was smoking a cigarette.  
"Mi amor, what are you doing standing up? "  
"Good morning querida! I could not sleep and so I left early to buy breakfast for everyone and now I wait for the coffee to be ready."  
Imelda could not help being touched by that gesture; despite all the suffering he had gone through, he was still that loving and caring man she had known in life.  
"The last time you smoked a cigarette was the day I told you I was pregnant." she pointed out to him a little curious  
"I started again 2 years ago. If you hadn't done it probably ..."  
"Probably what? Is there anything I need to know Hector?" she asked a little worried  
"Yes Imelda. I have to talk to you about something. It's not easy for me and it's a time spent here that hardly anyone knows, not even my father."  
"I listen to you my love!"  
"Ok!" and began to tell

FLASHBACK 1973  
Finally the day of the long-awaited reunion with Imelda had arrived; but it was not as if he had imagined it: as soon as she saw him, she had thrown her boot at him, fracturing his knee, she had shouted at him to leave his other woman and he hadn't even had time to tell her that there was no other woman and that it was Ernesto's lie that she shouted at him not to believe him and that he no longer had to approach her or her family. So he had returned to his father's house in tears, he had torn his guitar to pieces and gone to the Land of the almost forgotten with only a couple of clothes; when he arrived, he asked Chicharron if they had a place for him and he offered him his shack, locked himself in, and never spoke to anyone again in the next 2 hours.  
"Hector, what are you doing here?" asked Flora Morales, a local healer  
"My wife excluded me from her life and she's right. I didn't have to follow De la Cruz. It was all my fault!" he vented again  
"But Hector you are hurt! Come I help you bend your knee and give you something to cheer you up."  
"Gracias Flora!"  
So Flora tied his knee and then gave him Prozac, a psychiatric drug. At that moment Hector was so destroyed that he underestimated the danger he would run; he thought that after all he was dead and that there the drug could not have the same side effects that he would have had if he had been alive.

THE END OF FLASHBACK  
"But instead I became dependent. I didn't go out, I didn't eat and I didn't talk to my father for one year; I thought the tablets were the solution to my problems."  
"And how did you get out?" asked Imelda  
"Tía Chelo found me unconscious on the floor, full of vomit, took me to the hospital and there I told her everything and she accompanied me to rehabilitation. I owe everything to that woman. She is the mother I never had!  
When I left the clinic, I resumed my relationship with dad but I never told him anything. He always believed that I was a strong person and instead I disappointed him! " "Hector, we all have our moments of weakness, I too have had them and we must not be ashamed to ask for help. And then Emilio loves you. You have to tell him."  
"¡Gracias mi vida!" he said hugging her  
"Thank you for confiding in me. I'm sorry I let you pass this hell but now I'm here and I love you. We all love you."  
"I love you too!" and they kissed like they had not done for years.

4 DAYS LATER

Hector finally found the courage to talk to Emilio about what he had confided to Imelda 4 days before but was surprised  
"I always knew Mijo. I just waited for you to be ready to talk about it."  
"But how... ?"  
"Consuelo told me!"  
"Tía Chelo is a good woman. But aren't you disappointed?"  
"I could never be disappointed in you my son. You got up day after day, you fought to see your daughter again every year and in the end God repaid you. I'm proud of you !"  
"¡Te amo papá!" he said hugging him  
"¡Yo también te amo, hijo mío!"

**Notes:**

You know the scene where the skeleton of the Department of Family Meetings sneezes when Dante approaches him even though he no longer has a nose? I thought you could be addicted to psychiatric drugs even though you no longer have a stomach


	6. Emilio

September 14, 2018 Land of the dead

It was a splendid afternoon and tranquility reigned at the Rivera house; Emilio had been invited to have tea with them; by now he was spending all his free time with Hector and he had also turned out to be a good psychologist for Imelda who still had feelings of guilt for what had happened to her husband. They were chatting quietly until they saw an interview with Frida Kahlo on TV  
"Frida, will this year be the Spectacular Sunrise show at Dia de Muertos since Ernesto De la Cruz is in prison?" asked one of the interviewers  
"I don't think it's possible!"  
"Why not ?"  
"Because permits were granted every 2 years and it was discovered that this year's were obtained illegally, so the show was canceled and we don't have time to get new ones."  
"Tell us the details!"  
"Two years ago, De la Cruz said he was tired of doing the show in the usual place and he thought he could do it to the Land of the almost forgotten. So he had devised a referendum to seek the consent of all the citizens; it took 75% of the votes in favor but had only managed to get 50 and to do so at all costs, he had used illicit means with the help of the lawyer Cortez. To some he offered money, to other riches and then he dealt with his two thorniest problems. "  
"What do you mean? And how did you get this information?"  
"Policewoman Ines Espinoza is a friend of mine. One day she came to see me to ask if I knew how Hector Rivera was, we ended up talking about the expropriation of De la Cruz's villa and he told me that they found wiretaps between him and Jessica Cortez where they talked about this. Naturally I asked for permission from his superiors to disclose this information on TV."  
"Go on!"  
"Ernesto knew that the Rivera and the Lopez Garcia could not be corrupted in any way and so he sent Jessica in disguise, since they did not know her, from the first deceiving them about the cause of the signature and he blackmailed señor Emilio ... " and here they turned off the television  
"What is Frida talking about Emilio?" asked Imelda  
"Hector, mijo, I should have told you but you were so sick that I didn't want to give you other worries."

FLASHBACK NOVEMBER 4, 2016

Three days had passed since Dia de Muertos and for Emilio Lopez Garcia it had certainly been the ugliest since he died: he had just returned from his visit to his living family when he saw Hector dragged by the guards in cell; he had been allowed 10 minutes to visit and suddenly Hector had fainted in his arms, the guard had called the doctor and he had said that they were the first symptoms of the Final Death and that he had one year to spare. So Emilio had decided to host him for a while at his house because he was too weak to be alone, in the evening he gave him a calendula-based medicine recommended by the doctor as an aid to bear the pain he now felt to the bones, in short he tried to spend as much time as he could with him. It was evening and Hector had just fallen asleep after taking medicine when suddenly the doorbell rang  
"But who can it be at this time? " Emilio wondered, annoyed  
He opened and immediately his eyes filled with anger when he saw a person he knew too well  
"Ernesto what are you doing here?"  
"It is also a pleasure for me to see you again, teacher Emilio!"  
"What do you want?"  
"Calm, don't get upset. I'm here on business. I need your signature."  
"Ah yes? And for what, let's hear!"  
"Oh it's simple. As you know, every year there is my show on the day of Dia de Muertos and every 2 years I have to renew the permits. In 2 years, I decided to do it at the Land of the almost forgotten instead of the usual place. All I need is a signature from all citizens for consent. "  
"Forget it, you'll never have favors from me."  
"I had foreseen that you would have said no, so now it's up to me to dictate the conditions. Do you remember Flora Morales, the healer? If I went to the police to do a spy on her illegal sale of drugs, it would not be just her but also your beloved child; if memory does not deceive me, Hector was dependent on Prozac. I can have him beat in the cell too and I don't think it's a place to spend the last year before the Final Death claims him. "  
At that point Emilio had no other choice, the blackmail was too heavy and so he decided to sign  
"Such a tender thing! When it comes to Hector you tend to become very protective." Ernesto said with a grin  
"You got what you wanted, now go away!"  
"It hurts real? See the person you love most of your own life in critical condition and not being able to do anything to help her ... It must make you feel powerless ..."  
At that point Emilio no longer saw us in anger, took the walking stick left along the corridor and threw it at Ernesto who, however, dodged the blow and walked away from his house, laughing harshly.

THE END OF FLASHBACK  
"I just wanted to protect you. I'm sorry mijo!"  
"Dad we don't blame you for what you did. It is Ernesto who must be ashamed for his actions."  
"If I still find him in front of me, this time my boot will be just a taste. " said Imelda proudly  
"And this time my stick will not fail. "  
"You 2 really frighten me together!" Hector said, fake, frightened but laughing under his mustache, even under his goatee.  
And they spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and forgetting the shadows of the past for a while; finally all 3 felt at peace with the world.

**Notes:**

Ines Espinoza is the policewoman that Hector, disguised as Frida Kahlo, tries to deceive


	7. Tia Chelo

March 23, 2018 Land of the Dead  
Tia Chelo's life had not been easy; born as Consuelo Fernandez on 26 July 1875, at the age of 19 she ran away from home to marry her boyfriend Ramon Herrera, which her parents did not approve of. From their marriage two children were born: a boy named Esteban and a female named Manuela and could not be happier. But then one tragedy after another appeared in her life: Ramon, having lost his job, became an alcoholic and a violent man and died very early; Esteban committed suicide at the age of 21 after discovering that he had an incurable disease; Manuela married at 19 years old and had a daughter Lara but was killed by her husband when she rebelled against his beatings and the girl was only 4 years old and so Consuelo decided to raise her. But she had another disappointment: when Lara turned 16, she became engaged to Damien, a dangerous boy who persuaded her to kill her grandmother for having the little money he had left her in inheritance in advance. It was October 31, 1935 when Consuelo Fernandez, by friends known as Chelo, died at the age of 60 years after she had received 15 stab wounds to her heart; arrived at the Land of the Dead, an agent of the Department told her that she had no family there because her husband and her children had been forgotten and her parents did not want to see her; that's where she met Hector Rivera, whom she had initially mistaken for her Esteban, who took her to the place where the forgotten souls lived and introduced her to his adoptive father Emilio. Emilio was a very charming, kind, sensitive and caring man and she immediately fell in love with him but over the years, she suppressed those feelings: she didn't believe she deserved happiness after all the tragedies of her life and besides her granddaughter Lara sooner or later would die and she would have been forgotten and she didn't want Emilio to suffer also for this having already Hector who was in her same conditions. But now that Ernesto De la Cruz had been unmasked at the last Dia de Muertos and Hector had not yielded to the Final Death thanks to his brave great- great grandson, his old feelings had come back to the surface; Hector had come to see her that day and asked her point-blank question  
"When will you think to tell him?"  
"What are you talking about, Hector?"  
"Oh come on Tia Chelo, I was forgotten not blind! I saw the way you look at Dad! You read it in your face!" he said with a chuckle  
"I can't Hector!"  
"Why not ?"  
"Listen, I have always been close to Emilio when you have been hurt in the last year and God alone besides me knows how much he suffered in seeing you so reduced and I do not want him to suffer again when I will succumb to the Final Death."  
"Tia Chelo, in the last year I too had lost all hope of seeing my Coco again and yet I made the last attempt to cross the bridge and you know why? I would not have accepted to leave this world with the regret of not having tried to fight for her one last time. So don't do it! Don't waste your last moments alone and in regret when you can be happy with the one you love! Don't make my mistake of forgetting important things. "  
At that point, Consuelo gave a huge smile and stroked Hector's cheeks  
"You know, you have changed a lot since I met you. You have become stronger and more mature without losing your kindness and your sensitivity. I am proud of you mijo! You are like a son to me!"  
"And you are the mother I never had in life!"

4 days later

Finally Chelo had come to Emilio's house for a greeting; he wanted to talk to him about his feelings for him for years  
"Emilio, I have to tell you something!"  
"Tell me Consuelo!"  
"I ... I love you. I've always loved you since I first saw you, but I didn't tell you before because I didn't want you to suffer because of me, you already had Hector who was sick. But now I have understood that I cannot leave this world with regret. "  
"Chelo, I love you too and I don't care how much time you have left, I want you to spend it with me and the people who love you. You deserve it! So I ask you, Consuelo Fernandez Herrera, will you marry me?" "Yes mi amor. I want it!" and finally they exchanged a long and passionate kiss. They didn't know how long it would last but for now they didn't want to think about the future; they just wanted to live their love long kept hidden.

**Notes:**

Tia Chelo is the same age as Emilio but she dies 29 years later


	8. Victoria

November 14, 2017 Land of the Dead  
It was a quiet morning at the Rivera zapateria and everyone was back to doing their job normally; Imelda was in her office checking all the accounts to try to keep her mind occupied and not thinking about her sick husband when she suddenly heard sweet music: curious, she left the office for a moment, and noticed that the music came from Victoria's desk which had a small radio. This surprised her because she had always believed that it would be more difficult for her to accept music after having lived a life without it  
"I thought you hated music!" her grandmother's voice startled her but she recomposed herself immediately  
"Abuelita, I have to confess a secret to you."  
"Tell me mija!"

FLASHBACK 1948  
It had been a hard day at school: Victoria had quarreled with a classmate and had been expelled because she had thrown him a shoe when she had insulted her grandmother; her mother had also punished her by sending her to her own room without dinner. She was whipped, she didn't understand what she had done wrong; she had only defended the honor of her family even if in a violent way. She did not notice that she had begun to sing out of breath until tia Rosita entered her room  
"Mija, you have a wonderful voice!"  
"Please do not tell Abuelita. I tried to be like Elena but I failed. When I have a music lesson at school, I participate and I also like to listen to it very much."  
"Don't worry Vicita, it will be our little secret! And then even your mother would run away when she was little to go to the Plaza to dance."  
"Seriously?"  
"Sure. That's where she met your father."  
"Gracias tia Rosita!"  
THE END OF FLASHBACK  
"I'm sorry Abuelita!"  
"No. I did terrible things. I demanded that my daughter forget her father and I deprived the family of an important member. If I had remembered what Hector was like instead of listening to my jealousy and my anger, I would not have listened to Ernesto. He must have killed him too, but I'm his accomplice. Will you ever forgive me?"  
"Abuelita, there is nothing to forgive. De la Cruz has always been a skilled manipulator. Frida told me."  
"Gracias mija!"  
"You should talk to someone. Maybe it will help ease your feelings of guilt."  
"I will do it!"  
And in fact 3 months later he met Emilio Lopez Garcia, the adoptive father of Hector, who helped her overcome her problems better than a psychologist even if a small sense of guilt would remain in her metaphorical heart forever even when by now Hector was happy and loved by his family.


End file.
